Shedding some light…February 6, 2013

How odd is this? A Light and water meeting with the back row of Mr. Cutting, Virginia Wilder, Dennis O’Brien, Carol Skelton and Jerry Skelton? Then Bob Columbus walks in? Are they worried? They didn’t say much. Anyway, I digress.

Water Update- Old Business

FY 12 Water Audit – ended up $42,000 in the black. FY 13 will be a different story. Not as many new homes so revenue from connection fees is down. Multiple water main breaks and problems with a vehicle will be problems for this fiscal year.

New Business –

Back Bay – construction for Fisher St. was awarded to GEC Construction. Construction will begin in the spring. The CDGB grant application for Phase VI (Memorial St.) will be submitted by Feb 15^th.

Baldwinville Rd. Reconstruction will begin in March. Everything looks good for that project. This project doesn’t impact the water department very much. No new water mains are part of the project. There was mention of an old pressure reducer valve on Bald. Rd. that will be looked at when the time comes.

Templeton BOH – concerns getting the BOH and the planning board bylaws to adopt the new Zone II delineation for the water department. There will need to be bylaws amended at the ATM in May. The manager will attend the BOH meeting tomorrow night.

Customer Questions-

Will Spring asked if it were common practice to send a notice to shut off water, if customers were 7 days late? This situation has never happened in the Town of Templeton. It is practice to send three overdue notices and then a shut off notice.

Mr. spring also inquired about the water department budget, which was going to be ready on Feb 1^st. Copies of the water budget will be sent to Mr. Spring, Virginia wilder, and Dave Smart.

Dave Smart asked about the practice off filling the water tanks during off peak hours to save on electricity; if that practice had any impact on the multiple water main beaks.

A question was asked regarding a breakdown or analysis of the $28/quarter water “service fee” charge similar to the breakdown of the $4.00 customer charge for light department billing obtained by Dave Smart. This analysis will be done.

Water department meeting adjourned at 6:15 p.m.

Light Department Update – Old Business

 Wind Turbine Cost Certification – Yes, this was on the agenda yet again. The audit firm, Braver, is about a week away from having the cost certification being 15% complete. Glad they started this process two years ago. At this rate, in twelve years the town may receive answers on the cost certification for the wind turbine. Awesome news! I would say this is moving along at a glacial pace, but I think the glaciers may be gone within ten years.  This certification includes costs up to September 1, 2010, which does not include the costs of the long jump pit or pole vault relocation…or the long term financing costs. Hmmm.

TMLWP – the much anticipated TMLWP website may be operational as early as Friday or Monday. Only the commissioners will know for sure, as they will be beta testing the website. Stay tuned for more news on this exciting development.

Recloser Bid Opening – was a bit of a disappointment. Not as many firms submitted a bid as anticipated. The light Supt. and manager will work on this.

Light Department – New Business

Templeton Wind Turbine Maintenance – The turbine was shut down on January 18^th, because on January 17^th, during routine maintenance, a “clunking “ noise was emanating from the gearbox. The oil was tested and metal pieces were found in the oil at the 6-micron level as well as an absence of phosphorous[apparently not a good thing]. After contacting the turbine company in Germany, a referral was made to RM Wilson Co in West Virginia (the American service provider) RM Wilson could not come out until the middle of Feb. Another company did an inspection on Feb. 6^th

Preliminary report is that overall the gearbox is in good shape. There could be a problem with the middle gear set, but there was no definitive cause of the noise. Concerns – both Princeton’s and Plymouth’s gearbox failures were similar. The turbine had to be started to obtain the oil samples. It made the same “clunking” noise.

Options – Await the official report from the inspection.  Change the oil at a cost of $35,000 ( the oil has never been changed).  The cost of loss of operation for the month is estimated at $50,000. The good news is, if the turbine never operates again, the cost to ratepayer is $1.16/month per customer for the life of the loans. The bad news…there was no good news. The replacement cost due to lost generation was 9 cents per Kw in January. Drill, baby, drill!

Baldwinville Rd Reconstruction- The project will begin in March. 35 poles will need to be relocated along Baldwinville Rd. for the road reconstruction.

Gardner Airport Commission – This is an odd situation. The Gardner Airport has three beacons, one of which is located on a ROW. Apparently the homeowner does not like the beacon. It has become a dangerous situation for the linemen. Solution turn the whole shebang over to the Gardner Airport Commission.

Customer comments-

Bev asked how long  we had been members of MMWECC? (late 1970’s or early 1980”s) Did the Commissioners know that citizens could order light bulbs at reduced cost from MMWECC? As well as obtain rebates for new appliances and tax credits for heat pumps.? All this information is available on the counter in the TMLWP office. Isn’t that handy for those of us who never go into that office?

Broadband – TMLWP will generate income from the placement of the broadband wires on their poles similar to Comcast about $12,00/year.

Online bill pay came up for discussion. A suggestion was made to look into Unipay ( used for Real estate taxes already). Many municipal light departments use Unipay for making payments.

My opinions… supported by FACTS ! ! !

Julie Farrell